David O. McKay

If you want peace, yours is the responsibility to obtain it.  The Restored Gospel teaches that our homes should become warm nests where children may be protected and grow into noble men and women; where ... old age [may find] repose; where prayer will find an altar.

David O. McKay Church News Mar 1961, 15

Neal A. Maxwell

Petitioning in prayer has taught me that the vault of heaven, with all its blessings, is to be opened only by a combination lock: one tumbler falls when there is faith, a second when there is personal righteousness, and the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is (in God's judgment, not ours) "right" for us.  Sometimes we pound on the vault door for something we want very much, in faith, in reasonable righteousness, and wonder why the door does not open.  We would  be very spoiled children if that vault door opened any more easily than it does now.  I can tell, looking back, that God truly loves me by the petitions that, in his perfect wisdom and love, he has refused to grant me.  Our rejected petitions tell us not only much about ourselves, but also much about our flawless Father.

Neal A. Maxwell, "Insights From My Life," p. 200

Henry B. Eyring

To know His will you must be committed to do it. The words “Thy will be done,” written in the heart, are the window to revelation.  The answer comes by the Holy Spirit. You will need that guidance often. To have the Holy Ghost as your companion you must be worthy, cleansed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. So, your obedience to the commandments, your desire to do His will, and your asking in faith will determine how clearly the Master can guide you by answers to your prayers.

Henry B. Eyring, “Rise to Your Call,” Ensign, Nov 2002, 75

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

We learn to cultivate hope the same way we learn to walk, one step at a time. As we study the scriptures, speak with our Heavenly Father daily, commit to keep the commandments of God, like the Word of Wisdom, and to pay a full tithing, we attain hope. We grow in our ability to “abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost,” as we more perfectly live the gospel.” 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Infinite Power of Hope,” Ensign, Nov 2008, 21–24

Thomas S. Monson

Will you join me as we look in on a typical Latter-day Saint family offering prayers unto God.  Father, mother, and each of the children kneel, bow their heads, and close their eyes.  A sweet spirit of love, unity, and peace fills the home.  As father hears his tiny son pray that his dad will do the right things, do you think that such a father would find it difficult to honor the prayer of his precious son?  As a teenage daughter hears her sweet mother plead that her daughter will be inspired in the choice of her companions, that she will prepare herself for a temple marriage, don't you believe that such a daughter will seek to honor this humble, pleading petition of her mother, whom she so dearly loves?


Thomas S. Monson, “Hallmarks of a Happy Home,” Ensign, Oct 2001, 2–8

Joseph Fielding Smith

I wonder if we ever stop to think why the Lord has asked us to pray. Did he ask us to pray because he wants us to bow down and worship him? Is that the main reason? I don't think it is. He is our Heavenly Father, and we have been commanded to worship him and pray to him in the name of his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. But the Lord can get along without our prayers. His work will go on just the same, whether we pray or whether we do not. He knows the end from the beginning. ... Prayer is something that we need, not that the Lord needs. He knows just how to conduct his affairs and how to take care of them without any help from us. Our prayers are not for the purpose of telling him how to run his business. If we have any such idea as that, then of course we have the wrong idea. Our prayers are uttered more for our sakes, to build us up and give us strength and courage, and to increase our faith in him.

President Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, April 1968